“Do you consider your financial decisions which you make quickly to be
brilliant intuitions?” I asked.
“I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did anything I
have come that way. No, I never decide anything without knowing the
conditions of the market, and never begin unless satisfied concerning
the conclusion.”
“Not everyone could do that,” I said.
“I cannot do everything. Every man can do something, and there is
plenty to do.”
“You really believe the latter statement?”
“There was never more. The problems to be solved are greater now than
ever before. Never was there more need of able men. I am looking
for trained men all the time. More money is being offered for them
everywhere than formerly.”
“Do you consider that happiness consists in labor alone?”
“It consists in doing something for others. If you give the world
better material, better measure, better opportunities for living
respectably, there is happiness in that. You cannot give the world
anything without labor, and there is no satisfaction in anything but
labor that looks toward doing this, and does it.”